Added on March 25, 2015  The News Wheel   , ,
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Rumored Toyota Yaris WRC-Inspired Hot Hatch Coming Soon

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America isn’t known for its vast array of hot hatches (no matter how much we beg automakers to bring them our way). Sure, you have your Ford Focus ST, your VW Golf GTI, and your MazdaSpeed3, but compared to other countries, our hot hatch population is sorely lacking. The latest rumored hot hatch that probably won’t make it Stateside comes from Toyota, in the form of a Yaris WRC rally car made street-legal.

Toyota Yaris WRC Rally Car

Toyota’s new hot hatch will be based on the Yaris WRC rally car

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Toyota recently announced its re-entry into the World Rally Championship in 2017 by introducing a rally-ready Yaris. That model is equipped with a 1.6-liter direct-injection turbo engine that’s capable of producing a whopping 300 horsepower. Although not officially confirmed, the street-legal version is rumored to house a 2.0-liter turbo four under its hood—the same turbo four found in the Lexus NX 200t. Hopefully, it will be mated to a six-speed manual transmission and feature front-wheel drive, rather than the all-wheel drive of its rally-ready cousin.

Toyota Yaris WRC Rally Car

The Toyota Yaris WRC

If produced, this hot hatch would compete with the likes of the Citroën DS3 Racer and the Volkswagen Polo WRC Street, both of which retail for around €34,000 (approx. $37,300).

Watch out for this road-ready version of the Yaris WRC rally car. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that Toyota decides to bring it our way!

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News Source: Motoring.com.au